Beasts of the Southern Wild -- June 2012

A LOUISIANA STORY

When this year's Academy Award nominations came out, I was surprised to see Beasts of the Southern Wild on the list of Best Picture nominees and the name of Quvenzhané Wallis on the Best Actress list. The film was released in June of 2012, but I'd never even heard of it. It wasn't playing anymore in theaters, so I bought the DVD and have watched it twice. Since it's been talked about a good deal recently because of the Academy Awards, I thought it might be appropriate to review it.

Plugged In Online calls the picture "Sci Fi / Fantasy," and that seems an accurate classification. Beasts is a story told from the viewpoint of a six-year-old girl named Hushpuppy, who lives in proximity to Wink, her father. Hushpuppy and Wink are residents of the Bathtub, a watery area in southern Louisiana separated from the rest of the state by a levee. Hushpuppy lives in her own house -- an old trailer on stilts near where Wink lives in his own shack. Hushpuppy's mother left the family some time ago, though Hushpuppy still "communicates" with her by means of an old sports jersey. Hushpuppy loves her life in the Bathtub, but she's faced with one major problem: Her Daddy Wink is very sick. In fact, he's dying.

In the Bathtub, survival is the name of the game, and a good bit of the time Hushpuppy has to take care of herself. A while back, Wink had left her for several days without saying where he was going or when he would be back. Hushpuppy says to herself, "If he doesn't come back soon, I'll have to start eating my pets." In the end she doesn't have to do that, as Wink does eventually return, but in the meantime she has to feed herself by cooking cat food, among other things. When Wink does reappear, he and Hushpuppy get into a tremendous argument. Wink slaps Hushpuppy in the face, and she responds by hitting him back and managing to knock him over because of his weakened condition. "When you die, I'm going to sit on your grave and eat birthday cake," she says to him angrily. Shortly thereafter Hushpuppy burns down her own trailer. She is wont to say, "The universe depends on everything fitting together just right." Hushpuppy becomes worried that she has done something wrong and has thrown the universe off kilter.

Not long after this the area is hit by a major storm, a hurricane reminiscent of Katrina. The residents of the Bathtub band together and help each other as much as they can. After the storm subsides, they learn that the fresh water in the bayous has been contaminated by salty sea water which is killing fish and plants. Wink comes up with the idea of dynamiting a hole in the levee and letting the excess salt water flow out of the Bathtub. They do this, but of course the governmental authorities take a dim view of their action, come and arrest them, and take them to a refugee center. The local residents soon manage to "bust out" and return to their homes in the Bathtub.

On the Plus Side

At the very least, the film is interesting and scenically beautiful. The compassion and camaraderie shared by the residents of the Bathtub, both black and white, are admirable. In many ways, the relationship between Hushpuppy and Wink is also admirable; despite their quarrels, they love each other deeply. Particularly interesting are the aurochs, the "beasts" of the title -- gigantic creatures that are migrating to the Bathtub because of the melting of the ice in polar regions. As for the acting, it is excellent. Quvenzhané Wallis (Her name is pronounced "kwa-ven-zhuh-nay), now nine, was six at the time of filming and is superb in the role of Hushpuppy. Dwight Henry, who plays Wink, had never acted before this film; he owned a bakery and deli across from the film company's office, read for the part, and got it. His performance is totally believable. The film was made for $1.8 million, a pittance today in comparison to a movie such as Life of Pi, which cost over $100 million to make. Good things can come out of small budgets.

On the Minus Side

The people of the Bathtub suffer many travails and are survivors, but they endure through their own efforts, without the help of any higher power. Hushpuppy speaks of the universe fitting together just right, but I heard no mention of who made that universe or why. In fact, God's name is used only as an epithet in combination with the word "d--n." There are a few other uses of unfortunate language as well.

Bottom Line: Beasts of the Southern Wild seems to me to have no clear underlying theme, but I'll leave it to you to judge that for yourself. The picture has received many positive reviews and has won a number of awards. But it also has its share of critics.

Film Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 3 stars

Hotel Rwanda -- March 2005

GETTING US OFF OUR DUFFS

In his book Waking the Dead, Christian author John Eldredge says this in an effort to get us off our collective duffs:

“Wake up, O sleeper … Be very careful, then, how you live … because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:14-16). ‘Christianity isn’t a religion about going to Sunday school, potluck suppers, being nice, holding car washes, sending our secondhand clothes off to Mexico—as good as those things might be. This is a world at war. Something large and immensely dangerous is unfolding all around us, we are caught up in it, and above all we doubt we have been given a key role to play.’

We see just this theme played out in the movie Hotel Rwanda, unfortunately not one of the Best-Picture nominees for the year 2004. It should be, though.

Hotel Rwanda is about the genocide that took place in the small African country of Rwanda in 1994, when almost a million people were killed. The minority Tutsis had been prominent during Belgium’s colonial rule, but the majority Hutus gained power when independence came. As the film opens, the Hutus are trying to massacre as many of the Tutsis as possible. Main character Paul Rusesabagina is the manager of a five-star European hotel in the capital city, Kigali. The excruciating challenge for Paul is that his wife Tatiana, whom he loves deeply, is Tutsi, while Paul himself is Hutu. When the ethnic cleansing begins, Paul is willing to save only his family and friends, many of whom are Tutsi, but he soon undergoes a change of heart. The European staff of the hotel all depart, leaving Paul in charge, and he realizes what he has to do: make the hotel a refuge for the Tutsis, orphans, and nuns who are being persecuted: He is aided only by a few members of a UN peacekeeping force and must rely on his own resources. Paul is a good example of the kind of person who can literally save his portion of the world.

In the movie's most telling scene, Paul is having a heated conversation with a western cameraman who is filming the events. Paul says to the cameraman, "When the world sees what's happening, how can they not intervene?" The cameraman responds, "Oh, they'll look at the pictures and say, 'Isn't that horrible,' and then go back to their dinners." This is exactly the kind of comfort-induced sleep that John Eldredge is trying to wake us from.

American actor Don Cheadle plays Paul in one of the most convincing performances I’ve seen in a long time. British actress Sophie Okonedo does an equally fine job of portraying his wife. They certainly deserve the acting awards they’ve been nominated for, but they probably won’t win them. 

Film Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 3 1/2  stars

Highly Recommended

Flywheel -- October 2007

FLYWHEELS AND OTHER ESSENTIALS

According to the Encarta World Dictionary, a flywheel is “a heavy wheel or disk that helps to maintain a constant speed of rotation in a machine or to store energy.” Now I have to admit that when I heard that Flywheel was the title of a movie I should see, I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic. I needn’t have worried, though. Flywheel is a terrific movie with a powerful message about how we must give all of our heart to Jesus.

Here’s what the picture is about: Jay Austin is a dealer who owns a used car lot in a small Georgia city. Ostensibly, Jay is a “religious” man who attends church and goes through the motions with the best of them. But it’s all a sham; Jay isn’t walking with the Lord at all. He puts his tithe envelope in the collection plate but doesn’t include a check in it. He’s a poor husband and an inattentive father. Worst of all, he cheats his customers by greatly overcharging them. One day the pastor of his church comes in to buy a car for his daughter. Jay sells him a car which, he assures the pastor, is in excellent condition and is a really good buy. It’s a lie, but Jay can’t seem to keep from telling it. Things are not going well — he’s behind in his mortgage payments and is on the verge of losing his business — but he believes he has to cheat to survive. He’s trained his sales assistants to bilk the customers as much as possible.

Meanwhile, things are deteriorating on the home front, too.  His relationship with his son is virtually nonexistent. Jay’s wife confronts him about his dishonesty; he reacts in anger, and she goes to bed in tears. But then things start to change. Jay overhears his son talking with a friend, saying he doesn’t want to be like his father. At the office he watches his chief salesman dupe a young girl, but when Jay criticizes him for doing that, the salesman says it’s a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Soon he resigns.

So why is the movie called Flywheel? It just so happens that an elderly mechanic who works for Jay has been trying to fix an old TR 6, telling him that what the Triumph needs is a new flywheel —  in other words, a new internal governing device. The same is true of Jay — he is in dire need of a new moral flywheel. His mechanic, a believer, tells him as much. Jay undergoes a painful transformation.

Flywheel premiered in 2003 and was the first film made by a group from Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia (who in 2006 released their second feature, Facing the Giants). Alex Kendrick wrote, directed, and produced Flywheel and plays the role of Jay Austin with considerable skill. The other actors, all members of Sherwood Baptist, do fine in their roles. The picture doesn’t have slick Hollywood production values, but it has something much better: Its core reflects a heart for the Lord. Your church DVD library may have it, or you can purchase the DVD or order it through Netflix. You’ll be glad you did.   

Film Rating: PG     

My Rating: 3 ¼  stars